Japanese and Chinese leaders have agreed to start high-level talks to improve strained ties.

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao met on the sidelines of an EU-Asia summit in Brussels, their first such meeting since a feud over a collision near disputed islands in the East China Sea last month.

Wen told Kan the islands -- called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China -- belonged to China but also said the two Asian giants must deepen their ties for the benefit of the people of the two countries.